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Spirit Halloween is the largest Halloween retailer in North America, with over 1,450 pop-up locations in strip centers and malls across North America. Celebrating nearly four decades of business, Spirit has cemented its position as the premier destination for all things Halloween.
Since 1983 Spirit Halloween has offered a one-of-a-kind experience that remains unmatched in the industry. Stores begin to open as early as July, marking the highly anticipated start of the Halloween season. Die-hard Halloween enthusiasts ready to celebrate around the clock can visit Spirit’s online store, available year-round.
PGL Company Profile
PGL provides intelligent supply chain solutions that go beyond 3PL for virtually all key industry sectors, including:
- Aerospace
- E-Commerce
- Government
- High Tech
- Hospitality
- Industrials
- Oil & Gas
- Pharma & Healthcare
- Tradeshow
- Retail
The soothing science behind the scary fun
THE OPPORTUNITY
To help bring this seasonal pop-up store to life meant that there were exciting challenges to overcome. Working closely with the Spirit Halloween team, PGL was able to create a fully customized solution that found new levels of efficiency in the process, and next-level visibility into inventory and warehouse management.
From here, we look at what it takes to get a season’s well-organized inventory into each retail location on time and with exacting precision.
THE EXECUTION
As with any complex receiving, warehouse management and outbound operation, perfection is found in preparation.
Engineering the processes involves identifying and implementing the software and hardware that makes it all possible. In this case, this included integrating Spirit Halloween’s preferred bar code scanning platform, Zebra, with our Deposco WMS. With these two critical components working in harmony, this allowed us to follow best practices while remaining agile and able to change processes and functions as the customer needs.
Along with this flexibility, we gained visibility that led to the ability to identify potential issues well in advance, and make adjustments before they became problems.
For each location, a picksheet is sent to the warehouse, indicating which pallets need to be pulled for the next truck. Each pallet label is scanned and a warehouse crew of 3 people break down the pallets and load the truck, floor-to-ceiling.
This process takes about 2.5 hours to completely fill the truck. Driver information is gathered and a Bill of Lading is generated. The doors are sealed, and the truck is sent on its way.
Thankfully, with each location’s inventory pre-sorted and ready to roll out, this monumental task was not only possible, but brought a new level of confidence to proceedings, allowing each store to set up well in advance.
Notable Numbers
- Over the course of 4 months, accepted 85,000 inbound shipments
- Distributed to over 30 locations
- 77 separate outbound truckloads
THE OUTCOME
Custom solutions and the right people make all the difference, as proven by this engagement that is the first of many spooky seasons to come, keeping Spirit Halloween the one-stop shop for Halloween fun!
